Poll: In an average month, what percentage of your turnover comes from your biggest client?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Feb 20, 2020

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In an average month, what percentage of your turnover comes from your biggest client?".

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Abdulrhim Ahmed
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:54
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Feb 20, 2020

Some people are very organised and are good at administration tasks. Some people are very thorough and measure everything they do and keep tabs on things. However, this is not my case. I'm usually too busy actually working on my translations and revisions to have time to think about working out percentages of turnover and things like that.

My best client pays me promptly at the end of the month. The rest take longer. That's about as much as I can contribute to this type of discussio
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Some people are very organised and are good at administration tasks. Some people are very thorough and measure everything they do and keep tabs on things. However, this is not my case. I'm usually too busy actually working on my translations and revisions to have time to think about working out percentages of turnover and things like that.

My best client pays me promptly at the end of the month. The rest take longer. That's about as much as I can contribute to this type of discussion. I'm just back from the bank right now after paying my vehicle taxes. The rent and bills are paid. As far as I know, I have no outstanding debts. And that's all I need to know, really.
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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:54
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
About 40% Feb 20, 2020

Sometimes more, sometimes less.

 
Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 12:54
Member (2016)
English to German
other Feb 20, 2020

For me, there is no such thing as an average month, as it varies greatly. Sometimes it's 25/25/25/25, sometimes I'm fully occupied by a single client over a couple of months.

[Edited at 2020-02-20 09:31 GMT]


Maria Silvestri
Liena Vijupe
Laura Bissio CT
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 11:54
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other Feb 20, 2020

It’s hard to say as I work with a bigger group of very frequent customers who send me work in variable volumes on a month-by-month basis, and with a smaller group of sporadic clients who send large projects every three months or so. I would risk saying 25%-30% maybe more…

Maria Silvestri
 
Josephine Cassar
Josephine Cassar  Identity Verified
Malta
Local time: 12:54
Member (2012)
English to Maltese
+ ...
Other Feb 20, 2020

As far as I'm concerned, it's 'other'. Along the years, I've learnt not to depend on a single client for work as PMs can change or the agency might not receive any more work in my language pairs or specialisations so I thought it best to diversify client base and find it works best, smaller jobs but from more clients, same or new ones. I do, however, have some agencies that send me regular work.

Anna Herbst
Maria Silvestri
Spyros Salimpas
 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 19:54
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
70% Feb 20, 2020

for the current fiscal year.

 
Abdulrhim Ahmed
Abdulrhim Ahmed
Sudan
Local time: 13:54
English to Arabic
+ ...
Of the current fiscal year Feb 20, 2020

Teresa Borges wrote:

It’s hard to say as I work with a bigger group of very frequent customers who send me work in variable volumes on a month-by-month basis, and with a smaller group of sporadic clients who send large projects every three months or so. I would risk saying 25%-30% maybe more…


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:54
Member
English to French
74% Feb 20, 2020

so far in 2020
58% in 2019
39% in 2018
I hear a broader spread would be safer, but it's not easy to achieve proactively. Getting continuous work at right conditions is more important to me, wherever it comes from.

Philippe


Josephine Cassar
Kaisa I
Luca Tutino
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 08:54
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
About 50% Feb 20, 2020

But this percentage ideally should not exceed 30%.

Angus Stewart
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
~75% Feb 20, 2020

Real clients don't care for the word numbers, CATs, and hairsplitting over nonsense, only the positive result. Therefore, unlike secured* in-house specialists and contractors with benefits, freelancers are not on the payroll and should manage irregular income streams more carefully, doing one-time and occasional jobs.

 


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Poll: In an average month, what percentage of your turnover comes from your biggest client?






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